Sunday, September 2, 2012

Jake sat on the windowsill of his home as he usually does when he wanted to come inside to be with his human family. After five days of waiting, he could not understand why his family was not letting him in. He was hungry and cold. He yearned for his master’s warm bed, his favorite toy and a bowl of his favorite food. Jake, an abandoned pet cat, set free to fend for himself.
As we see cats roaming our neighborhoods, have they been abandoned by their human families?
We have to believe people who leave their pets behind due to foreclosures of their homes, or leaving an apartment complex, are not abandoning them. People who abandon their pets think their pet will be able to fend for themselves or someone will take care of their pet, which is farthest from the truth.
Pet cats are not accustomed to hunt for food outside their homes. They wait for their family to return back home, days if not for weeks, then become lethargic too weak to hunt.
If they are lucky, sometimes they will locate a feral cat colony, begging for friendship and for nourishment. Sometimes the colony accepts them, but most likely, the colony will reject them, not allowing outsiders to join. So they roam our neighborhoods, looking for nourishment and a place away from harsh weather.
So the next time you see a cat roaming your neighborhood, think of several things:
1. Is it one of your neighbor’s cats that allow it to go outside?
2. Is it an abandoned cat? has one of your neighbors recently moved?
3. Is it a feral cat? know the difference between a stray cat or a feral?
CAUTION: Never approach or touch an animal that you do not know personally. The animal could be carrying diseases or be rabid.
Jake was one of the lucky ones because an observant neighbor noticed him before it was too late. After humanely trapping him in a hav-a-heart, the neighbor was able to locate a rescue organization. Having no micro-chip to identify who the owner was, Jake was placed with a foster home until a new owner adopts him.

The TNR Debate (Trap, Neuter and Release)
The two opposing sides of the TNR debate agree on two critical issues.
First, there would be no feral cats without careless or irresponsible pet owners who purposely or who allow their unaltered cats to roam free or "dump" them. Cat Ordinances written at the local level as to the licensing, and control of pet cats might be in order. Other municipalities have ordinances addressing the responsibility for dog owners. Such ordinances can be used as models for cat laws. But do we want this for our area?
Second, unaltered feral cat colonies exist only where there is a human-supplied food source. An increase in food results in an increase in the number of cats, cats that are unaltered. We can surmise the population number of feral cats is a function of the amount of food available to them. A decrease in their food source would decrease their birth rate where food is scarce.
On the local level, open garbage containers, keeping the area hosed down and clean, can help in the reduction of the feral cats in or near the area. An entire colony of cats might exist in and around a single garbage dumpster. The feral cats are not there looking for food; they are there because they have found food and are protecting it; this is what defines a feral cat colony. Several generations of cats within the colony have survived potentially off of one dumpster. By properly sealing such containers from access, the birth rate within the colony will decrease and the colony will reach a sustainable size, die out or move on. Rethinking waste management policies by local food establishments is critical to feral cat population control.
Another on a local level is the feeding and providing shelter for the unaltered feral cat on your property. You have provided a food source and a shelter for the feral cat to survive within your neighborhood. The unaltered feral cat multiplies stays in the area because of you providing for its welfare. Soon an overabundance of feral cats in the area becomes a nuisance to your neighbors. If you are providing for a feral cat’s welfare on your property, are you legally held responsible for the cat and for damage the cat might do to your neighbor’s garden or home? This is debatable, not knowing how the law defines feral cat ownership, even if there is one that possibly exists.
While the welfare of feral cats depends on the people to deal with them responsibly and intelligently, the future of an endangered species is dependent on precisely the same thing. The problem can be effectively addressed by means of a local effort, as both "sides" agree. The intelligent and responsible thing for citizens, conservationists, cat lovers, and bird lovers to do is turn their attention to finding workable solutions rather than debating the issue on who is right and who is wrong.
The problem is not the fact they are cats, but rather we do not see cats as wild animals. People must confront cat overpopulation by spaying and neutering, by discouraging abandonment, by TNR (Trap, Neuter, Release) and keeping areas clean where human food is made available to cats.

In my own personal opinion, several big cat sanctuaries might be profiting in selling their ill and elderly exotic felines (lions and tigers) to butchers for exotic meat?

Recently in the news, it has been reported that several restaurants are serving tiger and lion meat to customers. Tiger and Lion meat is considered a delicacy by some people and has been found in several restaurants in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Illinois and Florida.

African lions are not endangered so the meat is legal to sell; but deeper investigation reveals the market for the king of the beasts is a part of mostly unregulated and shady exotic animal trade that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says is a multibillion-dollar industry.

On The Exotic Meat Market they advertise Iguana, African Lion and Kangaroo but are not specific as to where they obtain the lion meat, however you can order Lion hamburger and steak, a lion tenderloin retails for $1,400.

It was reported in the news, that a slaughter house was discovered behind Big Cat Rescue in Tampa Florida.

According to Fox Tampa Bay news, the Slaughter farm in Tampa Florida was found during an undercover investigation by ARM (Animal Recovery Mission.Org) agent Richard Couto and USDA. This slaughterhouse is adjacent to Big Cat Rescue, is this just a mere coincidence? One of Big Cat Rescue’s employees reported to the news station, that bullet holes were discovered in several of their panel fences.

USDA (The United States Department of Agriculture) has confirmed to FOX 13 that they have an on going investigation, as does the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, however a sheriff's spokesman says the ban on selling horse meat in Florida that took effect two years ago doesn't forbid someone from killing a horse for their own personal consumption. The man who wrote the Senate version of that 2010 legislation doesn't see it that way. Former State Senator Victor Crist is now a Hillsborough County Commissioner whose district includes Citrus Park.

"If for whatever reason there are loopholes here that others may have been clever to navigate through, then I would work to find a way to close those," Crist said. Crist says he was horrified by what he saw on Kudo's video—not just what appears to be the sale of horse meat, but the slaughter of other animals. What other animals may he have seen? He does not say. But we can only speculate at this time, the possibility of big cat carcasses.